News Digest
KAZAKH PARLIAMENT SUSPECTS STATE AIRLINE WAS DELIBERATELY BANKRUPTED
By empty (2/18/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The lower house (Mazhilis) of the Kazakh parliament voted in plenary session on 18 February to set up a joint commission with the government to find out why state airline Air Kazakhstan has gone into bankruptcy. The website said parliamentarians believe the bankruptcy was deliberately forced. The Transportation and Communications Ministry has asserted that the insolvency is the result of incompetent management.GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW CABINET
By empty (2/18/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Meeting in emergency session on 17 February, deputies approved the composition of the new cabinet by a vote of 165 to five. Its members are Zurab Zhvania (prime minister); Tamar Beruchashvili, Goga Khaindrava, Djambul Bakuradze and Guram Absandze (deputy prime ministers responsible for relations with the EU, conflict resolution, small business and investments, and national reconciliation, respectively); Tedo Djaparidze (foreign affairs); Gela Bezhuashvili (defense); Giorgi Baramidze (internal affairs); Zurab Nogaideli (finance); Irakli Rekhviashvili (economy); Eteri Astemirova (refugee affairs); Zurab Adeishvili (state security); Giorgi Papuashvili (justice); David Shervashidze (agriculture and food); Giga Tsereteli (health); Tamar Sulukhia (infrastructure and development); Nikoloz Gilauri (fuel and energy); Kakha Lomaya (education); Giorgi Gabashvili (culture, protection of monuments, and sport); and Tamar Lebanidze (environment and natural resources). \"Nezavisimaya gazeta\" commented on 18 February that the cabinet is the youngest in Europe, with an average age of 35; there is not a single holdover from the former government of President Eduard Shevardnadze.GEORGIAN REGIONAL LEADER SETS CONDITIONS FOR VISIT TO TBILISI
By empty (2/18/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Embattled Adjar Supreme Council Chairman Aslan Abashidze said on 18 February that he will travel to Tbilisi on 20 February to meet with President Saakashvili only if the Georgian authorities begin an objective investigation of alleged attempts by the previous Georgian leadership to assassinate Abashidze. Saakashvili said earlier on 18 February that Abashidze \"can and must\" come to Tbilisi. Saakashvili said he will not travel to Batumi to meet with Abashidze there if the latter refuses to come to Tbilisi.REBEL ATTACKS IN CHECHNYA KILL 7
By empty (2/17/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Rebel attacks killed five Russian soldiers and two policemen in Chechnya over the past day, an official in the Kremlin-backed administration in the warring republic said Thursday. Three of the soldiers died and 10 were wounded in attacks on Russian military positions, the official said on condition of anonymity. Two other soldiers were killed when a military truck was blown up near the village of Nozhai-Yurt and two policemen died when assailants opened fire in the Chechen capital Grozny, he said.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, "Promise and Peril in the Caucasus," AFPC Insights, March 30, 2023.
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Putin's War In Ukraine and the Crimean War), 19fourtyfive, January 2, 2023
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Russia Needs Its Own Charles de Gaulle, Foreign Policy, July 21, 2022.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Rethinking Greater Central Asia: American and Western Stakes in the Region and How to Advance Them, June 2022
Oped Svante E. Cornell & Albert Barro, With referendum, Kazakh President pushes for reforms, Euractiv, June 3, 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell Russia's Southern Neighbors Take a Stand, The Hill, May 6, 2022.
Silk Road Paper Johan Engvall, Between Bandits and Bureaucrats: 30 Years of Parliamentary Development in Kyrgyzstan, January 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell, No, The War in Ukraine is not about NATO, The Hill, March 9, 2022.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, Kazakhstan’s Crisis Calls for a Central Asia Policy Reboot, The National Interest, January 34, 2022.
Book S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell, Strong and Unique: Three Decades of U.S.-Kazakhstan Partnership, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, December 2021.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr & Albert Barro, Political and Economic Reforms in Kazakhstan Under President Tokayev, November 2021.